GHANA 2008: WE DARE NOT FAIL

WITH 38 days to the opening of the 26th edition of the MTN Africa Cup of Nations tournament, dubbed Ghana 2008, serious concerns have been raised about the quality of training pitches to be used for the tournament. An inspection team from the Confederation of African Football (CAF), led by its Communications Director, Mr Slim Aloulou, expressed misgivings after a final inspection tour of the four venue cities on Monday.
Although the CAF team praised Ghana for delivering stadia to host the games on time and also expressed satisfaction with accommodation facilities provided at the four venues, it had no kind words for us concerning the delay in providing training pitches for the tournament.
The Daily Graphic is equally appalled at the turn of events because we know that CAF attaches great importance to training pitches, for very obvious reasons. The fact is that in tournaments of this nature, teams spend more time on the training pitches — working out twice a day for a minimum of four hours — compared to the mere 90 minutes they spend on the playing fields.
It stands to reason, therefore, that players stand a greater risk of getting injured on the training pitches, especially when their quality cannot be guaranteed, than in real match situations. In that sense, the present scenario is very worrying.
Indeed, we are also at a loss as to why the construction of the training pitches was not started concurrently with the construction of the four stadia. Why were the contracts for the training pitches awarded very late in the day?
Our information is that some of the contractors who were offered the jobs failed to live up to expectation and had to be changed midstream. But, again, the question is: Why did we have to wait that long before abrogating the contracts of the non-performing contractors?
As things stand now, the Local Organising Committee (LOC) finds itself in a very tight corner and all hands must be on deck to turn the gloomy situation into a glorious one.
Fortunately, the Minister of Education, Science and Sports (MoESS), Professor Dominic Fobih, and the Chairman of the LOC, Dr Kofi Amoah, are not unaware of the unfortunate situation the country finds itself. At the meeting with the CAF inspection team, they gave firm assurances that the country would complete the remaining 10 per cent work on the training pitches before the start of the tournament.
Prof Fobih, for his part, said: “We will start the levelling of the training pitches soon to meet the requirements of the team. My outfit will advise the LOC on the recruitment of additional staff to speed up work at the four venues and put in finishing touches on time.”
Dr Amoah also said: “The LOC is working around the clock towards meeting the deadline.”
Looked at from any angle, this is a very tall order, especially given the fact that grass, which is one of the basic raw materials in the construction of the pitches, cannot be grown overnight. But we trust that we can hold the minister and the LOC chairman to their word.
Ghana has come a long way in the quest for a successful hosting of Africa’s greatest soccer fiesta and nothing must be done to spoil that lofty dream of using the tournament to showcase the country as a major tourism and business destination on the continent.